


Merry Christmas, Doctor Lightwood

by ceciwrites



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Medical, Doctor AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-08 00:05:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8821696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceciwrites/pseuds/ceciwrites
Summary: Magnus Bane agreed to volunteer at a children's hospital on Christmas Eve, wanting to help make sure the kids got the most wonderful evening. Turned out the kids weren't the only one who were gonna have a merry Christmas, Magnus realised when he met the young Doctor Lightwood during his time at the hospital.





	

Magnus hurried through the big parking lot, pulling his coat tighter around his body to shield himself from the falling snow, thanking any higher power that he would be indoors in just a few minutes. It was dark and cold outside, and he had been foolish enough to think that his coat and thin scarf would keep him warm on the short walk from the subway.

When he finally made it to the main entrance of the building, the swing doors was still going, even though it was 4 pm on Christmas Eve. He quickly made it inside, happy to see a person manning the reception desk so he wouldn't get entirely lost trying to navigate around. Approaching the lady behind the glass, he let a broad smile spread across his face.

"Hi, I'm Magnus Bane, I'm supposed to volunteer here tonight," he said and leaned against the desk supporting himself on his forearms. The lady looked up from her computer screen, sporting a soft smile of her own.

"Mr. Bane!" she said, sounding impossibly chipper, "welcome and thank you so much for coming." She rose from her chair and exited the reception area to approach him with an outstretched hand which he shook firmly. She looked around the big room, seeming to think for a moment before turning back to him and continuing:

"If you go to the end of that hallway there and take the elevator up to the third floor," she said pointing straight ahead, "you should be able to find the way by following the noise. I'll let Doctor Garroway know that you are on the way." Magnus chuckled and thanked her, wishing her a merry Christmas before making his way down the long hallway.

As he left the elevator, the sounds he heard confirmed that the receptionist had been right about the noise. In the opposite end of the corridor a door was open and soft light spilled out of the room and onto the floor just outside. Christmas music was easily recognisable to Magnus as he got closer to the room.

Before he reached it, however, a tall figure blocked the light as he came into the hall, the light (illuminating him) as he sent Magnus a bright smile as he extended his hand and introduced himself: "Hi, I'm Doctor Garroway, but please call me Luke. You must be Magnus."

Magnus quickly shook his hand, before letting the man lead the way into the room. It was not at all how Magnus had imagined it would be. The rest of the hospital might already be a lot nicer than a normal hospital, given that it was made for children, but this room were much warmer and more pleasant.

Inside the music was even louder, the sound of ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’ blending with laughter and voices of about twenty kids, scattered around the room. Most of them was wearing their hospital gowns, a few of them attached to a machine or a stand, but all of them looked as happy and excited about the festive events of the evening as any kid would have been.

The room itself was fully decorated. Paper chains dangling from the ceiling, fairy lights hung all over the room, framing the windows and the few pictures hanging on the wall. In one corner of the room a large Christmas tree was tugged away, decorated with handmade ornaments and candy canes and lights in all sorts of colours, while the small piano on the opposite side of the room was covered in Santa figures.

Whilst Magnus took in the room, Luke had gone to turn down the music, successfully gaining the attention of everyone before he introduced him.

"This is Magnus," he said, gesturing with his hand, "he is going to be with us the entire evening. As usual you guys have to come to me or one of the nurses if you are feeling unwell or need anything, but if you are nice to him, I'm sure he'll gladly read you a story and play a game with you guys."

Some of the kids shrugged before going back to whatever they had been doing. Some of them looked at Magnus in awe, mouths open or wide smiles spreading across their faces. One of the boys, perhaps 7 or 8 years old, came over to tug at Doctor Garroway's coat.

"Where is Doctor Lightwood?" he asked, staring up at them with huge brown eyes. "Is he not coming today?" Luke crouched down to get down on her eye level, letting out a small laugh, as he replied: "Yes, Nate, he is, just not until later. But don't worry, he'll be here!"

It seemed like it was good enough of an answer for the boy as he turned back to join some of the other kids in whatever play they had been in the middle of. Magnus soon found himself seated in a big armchair with half of the kids surrounding him, as he read them Christmas stories from an enormous book one of the kids had handed him almost immediately after he had arrived.

After finishing reading a story about the origin of Santa’s clothes, a few of the kids had started asking him questions about his own clothing, which is how he ended up sitting on the floor while they twisted and turned his rings and necklaces to see them better, fingers ghosting over the bright red material of his silk shirt and the ear cuff that was placed on the shell of his left ear.

He had just finished telling them about how most of his jewellery were gifts from his friends, moving from that topic to talking about what they all wanted for Christmas this year, when the door creaked open.

Everybody, including Magnus, peered up to see a tall man with dark ruffled hair enter the room. Like Luke, he was wearing a long doctor’s coat, but instead of the bland scrubs the rest of the doctors and nurses were sporting, he was wearing the ugliest Christmas sweater Magnus had ever seen, underneath his robes.

It would have been funny, if it wasn't for the fact that all of Magnus attention were caught by the blinding smile that spread across his lips. Not mention the way his eyes shone, or his cheeks that were still a little pink, no doubt a result from having spent time outside in the cold.

The room was suddenly filled with noise, many of the kids getting up from where they were sitting around Magnus, some screeching with delight as the man picked up a few of the first ones to reached him. After taking a few moments to greet them all, he looked around the room, eyes settling on Magnus. As he crossed the room, Magnus stood up to introduce himself.

“Hi, I’m Magnus”, he said, giving him a quick once over before shaking his hand, “you must be the infamous Doctor Lightwood.” If Magnus held on a little longer than necessary, it was not at all on purpose. If his hand was tingling afterwards, he would never tell a soul about it. And he would absolutely deny the fluttering feeling in his stomach caused by the small chuckle the man let out as he answered.

“I guess, that would be me, yes,” he said, hazel eyes locked on Magnus’, ”but please call me Alec.” Magnus was about to say something when Luke walked into the room, after having spent the last half hour doing God knows what, face lighting up as soon as he spotted them.

“Alec! I’m so glad you could make it to work today,” Luke stated as he gave him a short hug.

“You know there’s no place I’d rather be,” he answered looking around at all the kids. “With Max studying abroad, and Izzy and Simon spending the evening with his family for Hanukkah, there’s not much else for me to do,” he continued as he turned his attention back to Luke and Magnus for a moment before adding: “Well, I did drop by your place to wish Jocelyn and the two love birds a merry Christmas earlier today, but I’m seeing them in the morning, so I’d rather be here tonight.”

“Good point, but still appreciated.” Luke looked back and forth between Alec and Magnus, then around the room and back again, before asking: “Could I persuade you two to have everyone ready in the dining area in half an hour? I gotta help in the kitchen.” Alec sent Magnus a glance but nodded in agreement.

 

After an hour and a half later, and the most amazing Christmas dinner Magnus had had in years, Alec and the two nurses, whom he had only briefly been introduced to, escorted the kids back to the common room, whilst he and Luke stayed behind, making sure everything looked nice and clean. Magnus was just finishing cleaning the tables when he heard his name being called from the doorway. When he looked up, Alec was leaning against the wall, arms folded loosely over his chest.

“Alexander,” he replied, enjoying the way it made Alec’s eyes widen a bit before his face broke out in a huge smile seemingly very pleased by the use of his name, “what can I do for you?” He looked around, only now noticing that Luke had left, and that they were now alone in the room. He resumed the cleaning, keeping his eyes on Alec as he waited for an answer.

“Would you mind joining me in the kitchen when you are done?” he asked, pushing himself off of the wall, hands buried in the pockets of his coat, shoulders raised just a smidge as he walked towards Magnus. “I need to get some things done, and I could use a little help.”

Now completely finished, Magnus smirked as he moved around the table he had just cleaned, only a few feet separating him from the other man. Magnus once again let his eyes travel up and down Alec’s body, this time considerably slower than the first. He willed himself not to laugh out loud at the hideous cat-patterned green Christmas sweater visible underneath the coat, as his eyes met Alec’s once more.

“Oh Alexander,” he said as he took a step towards him, effectively shortening the distance between them, “there’s nothing I’d love more than _do things_ with you in the kitchen.” As he got close enough that their bodies were only inches apart, he swiftly moved around the other man, lightly brushing against Alec’s shoulder, causing Alec to gasp. Magnus’ grin was even bigger as he turned around, walking backwards towards the door as he called out.

“Are you gonna stand there all night or what?”

 

It turned out that the things Alec needed help with were not really that big of a task. In fact it wasn’t really a two-person job, but Magnus was sure as hell not going to complain about getting to spend a little time alone with him.

After Magnus had gotten half a dozen bottles of sparkling cider out of the fridge and put them on a cart, he settled on one of the bar stools on the opposite side of the counter Alec was working at. Magnus leaned forward on his elbows, chin resting in his hands, as he observed him arrange various sorts of homemade cookies on a couple of large plates to bring out for dessert along with the cider, listening to Alec talk about how he and the kids had made them all the day before.

“Who are those for?” Magnus asked pointing at a noticeably smaller, nicely decorated plate with what seemed to be ten carefully chosen cookies on it. Alec who seemed highly concentrated on the task at hand looked up at Magnus for a second before following the direction of his finger to see what he was referring to.

“Santa of course,” he simply replied, not even a hint of amusement in either his voice or on his face, as he returned to divide the rest among the plates. Magnus stared at him for a long moment, somewhat surprised by the answer. When Alec was finished with the plate, he quickly got a big glass out of one of the cabinets, filling it with milk before placing it on the cart.

“Santa, of course, why would I even ask such a dumb question”, he responded, voice almost deadpan as Alec’s had been. It made the other man look up at him, eyes searching his for something, no longer able to keep from grinning at Magnus. Magnus chuckled and shook his head as he hopped down from the stool.

“So, Doctor,” he said moving around the counter to retrieve the plates and put them on the cart as well. He got an eye-roll as response, but that didn’t stop him from continuing: “do you have any advice on how to avoid getting sick during the winter?”

Alec who had gone to fetch some glasses for the cider stopped in his tracks, turning to face Magnus, a single eyebrow raised as if to figure out if Magnus was serious or not. When he didn’t get any reaction he turned around to continue where he left off.

“Uuh, I’d say stay away from other sick people, make sure to get your vitamins, and I guess keeping warm is pretty important as well,” he said with a shrug as if he wasn’t entirely sure. Or maybe it was because he was still slightly confused about the question. “Not that being cold makes you sick, but you know, your body can only handle so much at a time, and managing your body temperature while keeping you from getting sick isn’t always possible.”

“Well,” Magnus began, eyes finding Alec’s, as he grabbed the handles of the now full cart, ready to drive it to the common room, “as you can probably see,” he said referring to his lack of sweater or other warm piece of clothing, “I’m not too good at dressing according to the weather. I do however know a few excellent ways to get the temperature rising.”

He started to push the cart towards the doors, once again letting his eyes roam over his body as he added: “If you’re up for it of course.” And with that, and a pointed wink, he was out the door, leaving a slightly stunned Alec behind.

 

It didn’t take long for Alec to join them in the common room, where he quickly set out to help Luke and one of the nurses get the cider ready for everyone to enjoy. Afterwards he sat down at the piano to play a few songs for them all, letting his long slender fingers glide over the keys.

Meanwhile Magnus had been persuaded to join a few of the older kids in some kind of board game, and while he enjoyed interacting with the young doctor very much, he was determined to keep his focus on the real reason he was here tonight: to make sure that these kids had the most wonderful Christmas despite not being able to see their families.

The time flew by and soon it was time to go to sleep for the youngest of the bunch. Magnus had seen them leave the room a few at a time in company of the other adults, sending them a little wave as they went. Suddenly, he felt someone tugging on one of his sleeves. He looked away from the boys he was currently chatting to, to find a girl wearing a flower patterned hat to cover her head looking back at him.

“Mr. Magnus,” she said, hope evident in her voice, “will you help put up my stocking for Santa?”

His eyes widened as he looked first at the girl, then around the room to see Alec leaning against the door frame, looking at them. There was a small, almost private smile on his lips, and Magnus knew instantly that she had first asked Alec to come help her ask him, and that he had insisted she went and asked Magnus herself.

He agreed immediately, promising the boys that he’d be back, before getting up from his chair. As they followed Alec out the door and down the hallway he felt the warmth spread in his chest as her fingers closed around his, holding his hand tight.

When they got to her room, Alec had gotten the stocking ready for them. Magnus helped her fasten it with a little knot when she had pointed out one of the handles on her dresser to be the perfect spot for Santa to reach it.

When she had given her approval of his work, he retreated to the doorway where he silently observed as Alec got her ready for bed. Afterward Alec spent a few minutes filling out her medical journal, and by the time he joined Magnus, she was almost asleep.

 

They returned to the common room in time for Magnus to bid the boys goodnight and soon enough they had all been put to bed. Magnus was getting ready go get his coat on the rack when he heard a certain someone say something to him. He spun around on his heel, trying to hide the shock as he faced Alec.

“What did you just say?” he inquired.

“I said, that thing about keeping warm in the winter,” Alec repeated, obviously enjoying the fact that he had caught Magnus off guard, eyes almost shining with mischief.

“What about it?” Magnus asked, heart hammering in his chest. This time it was his turn to raise an eyebrow, watching as Alec put a few things away before walking towards the door, consequently getting closer to Magnus.

“I was just wondering if you’d care to join me for a cup of coffee before leaving?” he said as he walked slowly past Magnus and walk out of the room, “you know, for staying warm.” A few moments passed where Magnus neither moved nor said anything, still not entirely sure what just happened.

“Are you coming or not?” Alec’s voice sounded from the hallway making Magnus snap out of his sudden daze. He smirked as he grabbed his coat and turned off the light in the room.

“I don’t know, doctor, you _do_ seem awfully talented with those hands,” he said as he followed Alec to get to the break room, “if you could show me - just _how_ talented they are, sometime later, I might be.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Anica. I hope you liked the story, and that it wasn't too far from what you had expected! Happy holidays :D
> 
>  
> 
> Also thanks to my lovely beta [Itenoria](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Itenoria/pseuds/Itenoria) <3


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